How To Handle Moderate To Severe Boston Terrier Allergies

Today we’ll discuss how to handle Boston Terrier allergies head on as we’ve recently gone through the steps with our youngest Boston, Baxter. His allergies were severe and somewhat odd so we felt this would be a good learning experience for all of us, together. Before we jump into Baxter’s situation, let’s go over Boston Terrier allergies on a broad level. If you notice excessive itching, red marks or sneezing in your dog, our recommendation would be to get into your vet as soon as possible. It’s always good to get an exam to make sure that it’s not related to any other illness. When you bring your dog to the vet, you should get a recommendation on one of two things: a blood test or a referral for an allergy specialist.

Things to look for: ear infection, red marks on neck, stomach, arms or legs, or any other red patches on the skin.

In our case, we put Baxter on steroids to help reduce the rash and scheduled an appointment with a specialist. Upon his first visit with the allergy specialist, he was put on some medicine and taken off of the steroids for his allergy test. For the test to work properly, he had to be off of his steroids for thirty days and boy they were rough. He just could not stop scratching so we bought him some wonderful hoodies and he basically never took them off as we waited for the test. In the mean time, we changed our laundry detergent to non-scented, changed his bath soap from normal dog shampoo to dawn antibacterial soap (per our veterinarian) and changed his food to Go! which is good for dogs with allergies.

After a month of waiting, finally, he got his test! He had to be slightly sedated for the test but I was told he was clowning around moments after the sedation wore off, that’s our boy! When I got there to pick him up, I was shocked to see the patch on his side where they did the allergy test.

We had a long talk with the veterinarian and were given the results, we learned that Boston Terrier allergies and complicated and we were somewhat shocked. Not only is Baxter allergic to some types of grass, weeds and trees (one of which in our backyard), but he’s allergic to human dander! Here’s the list of his allergies, the higher the number the worse the allergy:

For now, we have him on a special serum and three other medications that are working. Our specialist informed us that Boston Terrier allergies are very unique and usually found in the black and white, not the brown. We are washing sheets more, vacuuming daily and we trimmed the trees in the backyard to almost nothing to get anything and everything away from him.

We hope that Baxter’s experience can help you in the future. Allergy tests are expensive but offer real insight into what could be ailing your Boston Terrier. If you need the back story on Baxter’s allergies, you can read it here: http://ibostonterrier.com/2013/08/petplan-pet-insurance/

This isn’t a complicated situation but it is important to get the ball rolling quickly. Move quick and do what you can as we saw firsthand how bad Boston Terrier allergies can get.

Do you have an experience with Boston Terrier allergies that you would like to share? Let us know in the comments section!